A week after shoppers in Wales queued in the dark outside supermarkets to get their hands on bottles of Prime flavoured water, the same products are being resold online for 10 times the retail amount. The drink, which is endorsed by US YouTube 'influencers' KSI and Logan Paul, sold out minutes after hitting the shelves at branches of Aldi last Thursday (December 29).
The £1.99 items, which were on sale for a limited time only, saw people turn up in the early hours at some stores. Staff at one Cardiff branch even spoke of multiple customers ringing up once they'd spotted the length of the queues in the hope they could reserve a few bottles for themselves.
However, by 9am all stock had been snapped up amongst hectic scenes. Indeed, videos posted on social media site TikTok showed similar mad rushes on shop floors throughout the country.
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And now, just seven days later, a welter of Prime drinks have turned up online for vastly inflated prices. Coinciding with Aldi's announcement at the tail end of December that it won't be restocking the viral product, people all across Wales seem to be reselling their purchases for huge mark ups.
On Facebook Marketplace, for example, bottles are being offered for 10 times the original price tag. One seller in Penarth is selling Prime - Ice Pop and Meta Moon flavours - for £25 a bottle, with another in Swansea advertising it at £20 each.
Elsewhere, in Cardiff, bottles (including blueberry and lemon and lime) are being touted at £50 for four, while one vendor in Newport is listing it for £9 a bottle.
The drink, which is 10% coconut water, contains electrolytes and B vitamins and BCAAs, has zero sugar and around 20 calories per bottle. A new energy version of Prime, available to over 18s only, is set to hit the UK marketplace in April.
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